Judiciary

S.C. Inmate Objects to Female Lawyer; State Supreme Court Clerk: Get Over It

Unhappy that a female lawyer had been appointed to represent him in an appeal, a South Carolina inmate wrote to various officials seeking to have a different attorney appointed to his case. The request resulted in a personal letter (PDF) to the inmate from the clerk of the Supreme Court…

Oct 30, 2008 8:35 PM CDT

Ind. Judge Accused of Slashing Sentence in Exchange for $100K Donation

A senior judge in Indiana’s LaPorte County is facing an ethics charge that claims he slashed a defendant’s drug sentence in exchange for a $100,000 donation to court programs. Judge Walter Chapala is accused of suspending 18 years of a defendant’s 20-year cocaine sentence after the convicted man’s father donated…

Oct 30, 2008 5:36 PM CDT

Calif. Prosecutors Seek State Bar Help to Fight Mexican Drug War Spilling into US

A raging drug war in Mexico isn’t just hurting people there—including police officers, judges and lawyers affected by the ongoing violence. It’s also spilling over into the United States, as the same drug gangs responsible for killings, kidnappings and other related crime there travel across the border to ply their…

Oct 29, 2008 9:24 PM CDT

Ala. Lawyers’ Private Data Exposed in Court Documents, Researcher Says

Lawyers submitting briefs to federal courts in Alabama routinely sign the documents with their Social Security numbers, one of several ways that private data is exposed in court documents, according to a researcher whose organization analyzed publicly available documents in 32 districts. The researcher, Carl Malamud, has recounted his concerns…

Oct 29, 2008 6:47 PM CDT

Ex-US Judge Nottingham Faces Revived Lawyer Ethics Probe

The former chief federal judge in Denver announced his resignation earlier this month amid reports he asked a former prostitute to lie about paying her for sex, but that hasn’t put an end to his legal worries. The FBI is investigating the report that U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham asked…

Oct 29, 2008 3:01 PM CDT

Is Your Courthouse Haunted? Some Say These Are

Is there a Nightmare on Foley Square movie in the works? The New York courthouse may not be haunted, but paranormal societies and ghost trackers believe ghosts could have taken up residence in several others. The blog Court-O-Rama found the tales of the paranormal through a Google search. It found…

Oct 29, 2008 1:29 PM CDT

Conservative Judges Changed Appeals Courts; Will Election Swing Pendulum?

Regardless of who is elected president of the United States next month, George W. Bush could continue to have a significant impact on the nation for years through his selection of federal appeals court judges. “While a two-term president typically leaves his stamp on the appeals courts—Bill Clinton appointed 65…

Oct 28, 2008 10:53 PM CDT

National Study Finds Modest Damages are the Norm in State Civil Cases

A new study appears to debunk tales of runaway civil trial damages, at least in most kinds of cases. The first national study of civil trials in state courts has found that civil plaintiffs who received monetary damages in 2005 received a median final award of only $28,000, according to…

Oct 28, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Calif. Judge Admonished for Saying Prosecutor Had ‘Rocks for Brains’

A longtime California judge who retired early this year has been admonished for comments he made to attorneys while still on the bench. Former San Bernardino County Superior Judge Paul Bryant Jr. shouldn’t have said to a prosecutor that she had “rocks for brains,” or something very similar, according to…

Oct 28, 2008 3:48 PM CDT

Defendant’s Focus on Federal Judge Gets Him an Extra Conviction

A Minnesota tax protester who tried to haul the federal judge assigned to his case into “common law court” now has an extra conviction on his record as a result. After being convicted of fraud and tax evasion by a federal jury in his May trial, which went forward as…

Oct 28, 2008 3:14 PM CDT

Embattled Judge’s Husband Pleads Guilty in her Beating

The husband of embattled Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson has pleaded guilty to one count of battery with a deadly weapon for beating her with a frying pan. Edward Halverson could be sentenced from three to 10 years in prison, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Halverson entered an Alford plea,…

Oct 27, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Tenn. Judge Charged with Making Probationers Work on his Property

A Tennessee judge has been charged with official misconduct based on accusations he required probationers to perform work on his private property. Judge Ronald Darby of Benton County was indicted on Monday, report the Camden Chronicle and the Jackson Sun. He is accused of having work done by probationers he…

Oct 24, 2008 5:56 PM CDT

Judge in Senator’s Trial Refuses to Dismiss Juror for ‘Violent Outbursts’

The federal judge overseeing the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens refused to dismiss a juror yesterday despite a note from the foreman that called her “rude, disrespectful and unreasonable.” The note said the woman had “violent outbursts” and was “not following the laws and rules that were stipulated in…

Oct 24, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Out of Order: Judges Scuffle Over Fax Machine

Two Miami-area judges involved in a dispute over office equipment earlier this month were asked by the Dade County chief judge to leave the courthouse and have no further contact. Police were summoned Oct. 7 to the chambers of Circuit Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis after someone reportedly hit a panic…

Oct 23, 2008 8:12 PM CDT

‘On the Prowl’ Vegas Judge Removed for Sexual Improprieties, Racial Slurs

A Las Vegas judge has been kicked off the bench for sexual improprieties and improper remarks that included racial slurs. Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio initially was accused of sexually harassing his stepdaughter, beginning when she was about 14 years old and continuing when she was a court employee. Del Vecchio…

Oct 23, 2008 4:30 PM CDT